Monday, August 29, 2011

Moving along with projects! This is a trial of the new beaded bracelet that I love. Simple to do with two rectangles of left over fabric, zig-zag and decorative stitches. Then simple strings of beads are added for embellishment and two snaps to close. Lovely and fun to make-all the qualifications for a new favorite project.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

These are the stone carvings over the main door to the Holy Hill Basilica near Milwaukee, WI. I am in love with the entwined lines and stylistic flowers. I think I am going to print some of these out and try to use them as the border of an embroidery project. Hmmmm...what do you think?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

I have made a series of six little sketches of ladies/girls that I am going to develop into a new patterns. These little ladies have been fun to draw-simple lines with different dresses on each one. I'll keep you posted as I work through them!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I started a watercolor sketching class. Oh the fun of an online class with an active forum. The first assignment was to draw keys. I may just have to stitch these next. The color wash background turned out better than I thought.

Friday, August 12, 2011

I had a bunch of friends/family over Wednesday evening to try their hand at making prayer flags. There is an explanation of what they are, and how they can be used at www.prayerflagproject.com.

Once we got settled in with stamps, ink pads, glimmer mist, stencils and boxes of ribbons, yo yo's, and buttons we were ready!

This is Jeanne's flag-stamps, flowers, ink, and a Wheel of Wisdom. She over-laid the whole thing with sparkly netting that added a lovely fairy-like effect. The base was simple, unwashed muslin. Her final touch was the feathery ribbon to flutter in the breeze.

It was a magical evening-we made our flags in around 2 hours. And one friend, Lori, actually finished beading a complete necklace to wear to a wedding this weekend. What fun!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Had a lovely time visiting the Green Bay Botanical Gardens on Saturday. Spent a little over 2 hours wandering taking photos and sketching. Cool, early morning with a slight hint of clouds-perfect for photography. I think this cottage may turn into a new stitchery design!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I have also discovered zentangles-a form of meditative doodling that was developed a couple of years ago. Who knew my love of coloring would get a boost when I am 57 years old???

What do you think about converting this into an embroidery pattern? I might want to applique the circle pieces and then stitch the dangling lines. Hmmmm..must share with Jeanne and see what she thinks!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Over the weekend I spent some time working on prayer flags again. But this time I used some copies of old family photos! The three kids are me (blondie!), our oldest brother, and Jeanne. I think this was about 1960...aren't we sweet?

I made the flag out of old muslin-not really good for quilting or hand-stitching. It is very rough. I didn't wash it or anything-just measured out a 6" X 10" piece, folded over aboout 1 1/2" and pressed that down. Then I pulled out a couple of my favorite stamps about photography, inked the paper photo and used Mod Podge to paste it down. (I covered the photo to make sure it was a little sturdier.) Then I dug into my selvedges and picked out two to stitch down. Finished by hemming the top so I could thread twine through it and it was ready to hang! Nothing is hemmed or finished-just raw edges. (That is HARD for me to do!!!)

What a fun way to use up left over items, my sewing machine, and some stamps, glue, whatever. Give it a try!